Two men fire shots at supermarket belonging to family of Lionel Messi's wife, before leaving threatening message on ground aimed at seven-time Ballon d'Or winner, officials say.
Two gunmen on motorcycles have shot at a supermarket belonging to the family of Antonella Roccuzzo, wife of Lionel Messi, in Rosario, in Argentina's Santa Fe province, local media and the city's mayor reported.
A threatening hand-written message for 35-year-old Messi, Argentina's captain and seven-times World Player of the Year, was also left on the shop door on Thursday.
"Messi, we are waiting for you, (Pablo) Javkin (the mayor) is also a narco (drug trafficker), he is not going to take care of you," it read.
Javkin went to the supermarket and lashed out at federal authorities over what he called their failure to curb a surge in drug-related violence in Rosario, located about 300 kilometers northwest of the capital of Buenos Aires.Police said the two men on a motorcycle fired at least a dozen shots into an Unico branch in the early hours.
Considered by many to the greatest football player of all time, Messi is revered in Argentina, especially since he led the national team to the country's first World Cup victory in 36 years in Qatar in December.
Messi currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain and spends much of his time overseas, though he often visits Rosario where he has a home in the suburb of Funes.
'Mafia terrorism'
In Rosario, prosecutor Federico Rebola said authorities were reviewing security camera footage and that the investigation was "preliminary." It was the first time Messi’s in-laws had received this kind of threat, he added.
Celia Arena, Justice Minister for Santa Fe province, where Rosario is located, said the attack amounted to “terrorism” by a “mafia" group meant to intimidate the broader population.
"The aim is to deliberately cause terror in the population and discourage those of us who are fighting against criminal violence, knowing that it will be an event of global significance," Arena wrote in a social media post.
Javkin, a centre-left politician in opposition to the ruling Peronist coalition, appeared to throw suspicion of complicity for the attack on both criminal gangs and federal security officials.
"I doubt everyone, even those who are supposed to protect us," Javkin said in an interview with a local radio station.
He said that he had recently had "very strong discussions" with members of the federal security forces over the past couple of weeks demanding that they crack down on the city's crime.
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(With input from news agency language)
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